Okay....so I was reading through the boards and a lotta peeps were like there's no God or divine being or anything....so if you don't believe in God then where do you think your gonna go when you die? Nowhere....right? Well wouldn't it make more sense to believe in something that promises you eternal afterwords, IF its true, then to just live life knowing that your going nowhere? I mean worstcase at the end of your life you go nowhere just like you'd expect but if you actually do end up having an after life you'll have me to thank. :) i hope my question makes sense it may be a lil confusing.
2007-02-28 09:27:21 · 36 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Similar plays on this logic have been introduced repeatedly to this forum. Pascal's Wager, perhaps? It doesn't work like that according to Christianity, anyway. In addition, I truly don't believe there is an after life, so how do I just change my mind? If I think we just die, then how do you make myself believe in God?
It doesn't work like that!
2007-02-28 09:31:59 · answer #1 · answered by eastchic2001 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Ahh yes Pascal's wager. The problem with your argument is any other religion can use it too.
How do you know your God is the only God? How do you know it's not really Zeus, Ra, or Vishnu? It would be mighty embarassing on your judgement day to tell a God you didn't believe in him because you thought someone else was God. Sadly the only way you could hedge your bets against such a dilemma would be to worship in every religion in existence.
When you realize why you dismiss all the other Gods you will understand why we Atheists dismiss yours.
2007-02-28 09:43:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
What if you waste this whole life preparing for an eternity that doesn't come? I prefer to enjoy this life and all it has to offer, and not worry about how it might affect the next life, but how it will affect this life.
I mean if Christians are right, I'm either going to hell, or spending eternity witha bunch of lame-o Jesus lovers, so I'm screwed either way.
And as for the Bible God, how can i love a murder, a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, even though He created gays, women, and other races.........man howcan you believe He loves you, you're preaching, didn't you know that's a no no, you should read the Bible.
And as for God, I do believe in "God" just that it is the sum of everything, just not a conscious entity.
2007-02-28 09:33:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I'd prefer to go nowhere, for one thing. It brings comfort to me that, after such a long life, I'll get to truly "rest". I think that heaven would get boring after a while.
Second, believing in God isn't a matter of, "Oh, you're right, I'm totally believing in God now". People can't change with the snap of a finger. Even if I went to church and read the Bible and told other people I believed in God, I'd just be pretending. I can't MAKE myself believe in something that I really don't think is there.
It's like clinging on to an imaginary friend past childhood. Sure, I'd like for my imaginary friend to be real, but I've got to get a grasp of reality sometime.
2007-02-28 09:38:34 · answer #4 · answered by Stardust 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Belief in God is not something to be solved once and for all. God is the immense Mystery for mankind to heartfully seek for and to love from eternity to eternity.
Those who don't believe will do; those who believe may divert.
Perhaps, the duty of people who believe is to convince others by deeds and not by words. When people see that the believers are really good, are truly the fruit of the divine Tree, they will rethink and will seek for that Tree.
Saying to believe is easy, but to live by the divine standards is really very, very difficult. We believers must shamefully admit that millions of religious people make no attraction, because we are not truly doing the Will of God.
2007-02-28 09:54:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pascal's Wager, etc, blah blah blah. So you advocate hypocrisy.
Your question isn't confusing in the least - we get it!
This is the real objection to Christianity - the moral objection. Insofar as the Christian is "good," and has "faith," it's in the nature of a bribe to God to secure a good seat in the afterlife. So why wouldn't atheists go ahead and comply with this programme - since they have nothing to loose? It's really amusing that you apparently can't see the irony here.
2007-02-28 09:42:05 · answer #6 · answered by jonjon418 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Okay, which God should I believe in? Which heaven? Which afterlife? What if you die believing in the WRONG God, and whichever one is the right one throws you into hell because you believed in something you weren't supposed to? You see, it is not smart to believe in silly things just in case they might be real. If I start doing that, where do I stop? Should I also believe in Santa Claus, leprechauns, unicorns, and Never-Never Land just in case there might be some truth to them? Check out the link below and then send me a list of which of those thousands of gods are the real deal. Any of them, or all of them, just MIGHT be real, so maybe you better start believing in all of them! After all, you'll have nothing to lose when you die, right?
2007-02-28 09:42:25 · answer #7 · answered by Antique Silver Buttons 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Life is more precious BECAUSE it ends. If there's such a great afterlife (i.e., Heaven) then why won't believers die NOW in order to get there quicker?! If there's eternal life afterwards, then life on Earth is really pointless.
To me personally, to live FOREVER is frightening and boring! If Heaven and Hell were to exist (though that's highly improbable) I'd rather be with the geniuses who are in Hell and keep my personality intact than be stripped of my personality and become a happy drone freak in Heaven (remember... no tears EVER, no unhappiness EVER, no competition EVER, etc.).
Heaven sucks.
2007-02-28 09:39:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
You are soooo right. I am a christian and have a strong faith. I completley agree, and don't worry about all these people saying that heaven sux and that there is no god. They are all letters on a screen. Don't let them get you down. They just get all defensive because (this is a fact) christians are more loving than non christians. You have been rewarded in heaven for them persecuting you.
"Blessd are you, when men persecute you and say all sorts of wrong against you for my sake
But rejoice and be receding glad for great is your reward in heaven" Matthew 5 11-12
"Woe to you who laugh, for you will mourn"
I know you are right if you are talking about the christian god. We will prove them wrong
2007-02-28 10:07:59 · answer #9 · answered by Suzy 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's Pascal's wager in a nutshell (albeit a badly formed and poorly worded nutshell).
Still, do you think you could fool your god? An omniscient god should be able to see right through someone who believes because the want the reward (or want to avoid the punishment).
2007-02-28 10:02:12 · answer #10 · answered by Dave P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋